


lost and found

by mallory



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Introspection, LLF Comment Project, Pre-Series, references to lauriver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 19:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5176553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mallory/pseuds/mallory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver was the damsel who didn't know he was in distress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lost and found

**Author's Note:**

> A free for all prompt: [any. any. lost and found](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/668659.html?thread=88955123#t88955123)

Laurel knew Oliver Queen. She knew the charming trouble-maker was a front to hide his insecurities. During middle school, she bore witness to glimpses of the real Ollie—the neglected rich boy who cared and loved easily—and when high school hit and he fully embraced his alter ego, she spent countless hours trying to bring it out into the light. Sometimes she was successful in her feat, but the satisfaction was short-lived when he'd grow afraid and revert back to being the egomaniac he insisted on being.  
  
Oliver was the damsel who didn't know he was in distress, and she welcomed the challenge of tearing down his defences. She supposed that's what attracted her most to him—uncovering the truth was always important to Laurel, and Oliver was a boy who was trapped in a lie.  
  
She gave him pieces of her heart, a victorious glimpse at a time.  
  
When they began dating, she made plans of their future together. Law school for her while his father groomed him for CEO of Queen Consolidated. They'd move in together and become engaged a year after. Another year of planning the wedding when she could spare time from kicking ass and climbing up the ladder at CNRI.  
  
The day news broke that the Gambit was lost at sea was a day Laurel would never forget. She could hand you a list of emotions, with a shaky hand, that barrelled through her after learning her boyfriend and sister were dead. Wrecked, shocked, betrayed, angry.  
  
(You wouldn't see  _heartbroken_  on there, though. Certainly not under the block of scribbled black ink at very the top of the page.)  
  
It's funny. Laurel grew to think the world of Oliver Queen. She believed that she would be nothing without him. The day she lost him, she truly believed she'd fall apart without him. But chocolate didn't taste any less sweeter and the sunlight didn't turn a depressing yellow. The ground didn't break from under her and swallow her whole, agonised screams and all. Her heart continued to beat, tucked safely in her chest.  
  
Her relationship was built on lies, and when she uncovered that their love and future were based on fantasises she created, she felt... free. She fell in love with an idealised version of Oliver, a boy put together from the pieces she liked and ignored the ones she didn't. But if you take apart and put back together puzzle pieces enough times, the edges will become tattered; ragged. It won't fit anymore and the perfect image will be marred with holes, scratches and rips.  
  
She grieved the death of her boyfriend. It wasn't easy, nor was it quick. She spent too much of her time and energy looking for Ollie.  
  
Laurel knew Oliver Queen. She loved him. But she wasn't in love with him. The day she lost him, she thought she was broken. Maybe she was, maybe she just bruised. But then she picked herself back up and began to find herself.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
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